No, But Really, All the Nigerian It Girls Are Wearing Lisa Folawiyo – Marjon Carlos/vogue.com

In its new thrust, VOGUE continues to reflect its “international” moniker with its wider coverage of African stories, including – and especially – African designers . To be more specific, Nigeria has gotten quite a lot of attention lately, with Chimamanda’s Ted Talk’s feminism phrase showing on catwalk during the recent New York Fashion Show Week at which Lisa Folawiyo’s brand was also shown. Folawiyo’s many fans who wear her label even got the ‘IT-Girl’ label of their own – LF Girl – a shout-out.Ms. Folawiyo also showed her Collection at the recent Milan Fashion Week, and her designs are already being carried by Moda Operandi.

With a Lagos Fashion Show Week already well established and gradually getting more than noticed by world fashion industry – a usually very closed tribe, pardon me – Nigeria is set to start earning more than just attention from the small beginnings of effort by pioneers like Ms. Ṣade Thomas. Fashion business IS big business.

Agbani Darego, former Miss Nigeria & first African to win Miss World [vogue.com]

These days in fashion, brand loyalty is so often about creating a sense of community for customers to align themselves with. Women become more than simply repeat customers as they transform into, say, suede minidress–clad Balmainarmy members or join Givenchy’s “love gang,” made up of fringe artists, rule breakers, and, well, Beyoncé. It’s a phenomenon that certainly speaks to the evolution of brand culture and has bubbled forth even in the concentrated world of Nigerian fashion. Yes, just one scroll through the Instagram of designer Lisa Folawiyo and you’ll find a verifiable checklist of Nigerian stars and It girls—nay, “LF girls”—wearing Folawiyo’s reimagined Ankara printed dresses.

Hitting the red carpet on the shoulders of Nollywood’s biggest names like Rita Dominic and Stephanie Okereke Linus; landing at Milan Fashion Week with rising Nigerian style star Ogo Offodile; or prominently witnessed in Lagos’s chic cabals and bustling party circuit, the line’s designs have become a mainstay for fashionable Nigerian women looking for statement pieces that reflect African sensibilities and modern trends. But as Nigeria’s top model, Mayowa Nicholas, recently explained to Vogue.com, Folawiyo’s reach is broadening. The designer took part in this past New York Fashion Week and added Moda Operandi as a recent stockist, so it seems that the LF girl is shifting into an international woman. And with Folawiyo’s Lagos Fashion and Design Week Spring 2017 presentation set for tomorrow, we’re sure she’ll be attracting even more dedicated followers.